In a typical conventional managed information environment, such as a storage area network (SAN) operable to coordinate access to mass storage devices by a set of users, the storage area network interconnects a plurality of storage device nodes and associated interconnection nodes. The storage area network includes a variety of nodes for providing mass storage retrieval services to users, such as storage devices (e.g. disc drive arrays), connectivity devices (e.g. switches and routers), and conventional host computers for executing software components called agents for monitoring and controlling the nodes in the storage area network. The resultant infrastructure, therefore, for monitoring and controlling the storage area network, defines a complex array of nodes and interconnections.
Management of the storage area network infrastructure is a formidable endeavor. The multitude of nodes and interconnections between the various nodes present a substantial monitoring and control task for tracking throughput, identifying bottlenecks, and pinpointing failures, for example. In a typical conventional managed information services network, a network management application, such as a Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) based application, for example, assists operators and users in gathering feedback from the network and performing diagnostic activities for isolating problem areas, performing remedial action, and improving efficiency of the conventional network infrastructure.
Complex software systems such as the storage area network often employ a notification, or triggering mechanism in order to notify interested parties of significant occurrences or events, such as failures, diagnostics, and threshold or milestone quantifications, for example. In conventional software systems, predefined or sufficiently automated and seamless service access and invocation may not be available. In languages employed for development of such conventional software systems, such as the C++ programming language, for example, the system design methodology may implement service layers providing support for notification mechanisms. In such a managed information network, notification mechanisms typically inform applications and other managing entities of various occurrences detected by deployed entities in the environment. Often, such services generate notifications in the form of alerts, which a detecting entity reports to a monitoring or responsible entity. The conventional interprocess notification mechanisms typically strive to organize and propagate the alerts in a systematic manner according to a predetermined protocol. The predetermined protocol provides assurances that information in the alerts and corresponding responsive action occurs in a timely and/or effective manner to maintain the conventional managed information environment near peak efficiency.